Pick up your AI CLI session — anywhere, any machine
HiTerminal
SSH, remembered.
An SSH-first multi-session terminal for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Start a Claude / Gemini / Codex CLI session on your studio, then attach to it from your laptop with full scrollback, live output, and a one-click upload. The session never dies — and neither does your context.
Download links go live on June 1, 2026.
Watch · 75 seconds
HiTerminal, in motion
No long pitch — just the core in 75 seconds. Remote attach, file upload, visual markers, SSH-first architecture, all in one pass.
Why HiTerminal exists
Your AI CLI sessions deserve
to outlive a laptop lid.
Modern AI work happens in long-running terminal sessions — Claude Code planning a refactor, Codex grinding through a test suite, Gemini sweeping logs. Close the lid, switch desks, walk to a meeting, and the session is gone. HiTerminal keeps the session on the machine where the work is, and lets every other machine you own attach to it as if it were local.
Sessions live on the host
A session is a real shell on the remote box. Your laptop is just a window into it. Close the laptop — the session keeps running, the AI keeps thinking, the build keeps building.
Attach from anywhere
Sit at your studio, attach from the iMac in the living room, then from a Windows laptop on the train. Same scrollback, same prompt, same cursor. A "VNC for terminals" — but text, not pixels.
SSH-first, no cloud
No HiTerminal server in the middle. Every link is plain SSH between your machines. Passwords are stored in the OS Keychain (encrypted via safeStorage), and host keys are pinned with a fingerprint dialog.
Three things it makes easy
Real workflows, end to end
Keep Claude / Gemini / Codex CLI alive across machines
Start a Claude Code session on your Mac Studio that's chewing through a large refactor. Walk to the kitchen, open the iMac, attach to the same session, read the rolling output, type your next prompt — then keep going from the MacBook on the couch.
One sidebar for every server, one window per session
Two-level sidebar (server → session) like Finder. Each session opens in its own OS window — tile, cascade, or stack them across your monitors. Color + shape markers let you tell a "prod-db-1" session from a "staging-db-1" session at a glance, even across 30 windows.
Drag-drop and Cmd+V upload, straight into the remote shell's cwd
Drag a folder onto the terminal — uploaded via SFTP to the remote shell's current working directory (tracked live via OSC 7). Copy a screenshot in Preview, hit ⌘V in HiTerminal, the image lands on the server as clipboard-2026....png. No more scp, no more "wait, what was the path".
Features
Everything in HiTerminal
Core SSH and a working session keep working forever for free. Pro removes session and host limits, unlocks remote-attach and file transfer, and adds quality-of-life features for power users. The first 14 days are full Pro — no card, no asterisks.
- SSH password / public-key / passphrase loginFree
- 2-level sidebar (server → session) like FinderFree
- xterm.js + WebGL renderer (high-FPS, IME-friendly)Free
- Independent OS window per session — tile · cascade · stackFree
- Visual markers — 5 colors × 4 shapes per sessionFree
- Auto-reconnect with exponential backoffFree
- Korean / CJK streaming UTF-8 decoder (no garbled chunks)Free
- SSH host key verification (first-connect + change warning)Free
- Keychain-encrypted password storage (Electron
safeStorage)Free - Up to 1 host · 5 sessions after trial endsFree
- Unlimited hosts & sessionsPro
- Remote attach — connect to sessions running on another HiTerminalPro
- SFTP file upload — drag-drop · ⌘V clipboard · right-click menuPro
- SFTP download — right-click on remote files · save selection as filePro
- Scrollback recovery on attach — last 4 MB of output replayed instantlyPro
- Per-machine peer discovery (
~/.hiterminal/state.jsonover SSH)Pro - Attach confirm dialog — Always allow / 10 min / once / denyPro
- 14-day full Pro trial — no payment, no accountTrial
- Mobile companion (iOS / Android) with voice inputPlanned
Architecture — drawn out
SSH-first. No HiTerminal server. Ever.
HiTerminal does not host your sessions, your credentials, or your discovery state. Every machine writes ~/.hiterminal/state.json with what it has, and other machines read it over SSH. Remote attach tunnels JSON-Lines RPC through ssh direct-tcpip — no exposed ports, no third party in the middle.
Why SSH-first, not iCloud-first?
Earlier builds tried iCloud Drive for cross-Mac discovery. iCloud's lazy sync turned out to be unreliable for a live tool — sometimes a peer's folder was minutes behind. Switching to each machine owns its own state, accessed live via SSH made the system instantly correct and removed any dependency on Apple's sync.
Quickstart manual
From install to your first AI session — 5 minutes
No daemons, no PAM, no agents to install on the remote server. If you can SSH in from Terminal.app, HiTerminal will connect.
Install HiTerminal (≈ 90 MB DMG / installer)
Download the build for your OS. On macOS, drag HiTerminal.app to Applications. On Windows, run the installer. On Linux, use the AppImage or .deb. The first run is a clean blank window — no signup, no onboarding wizard.
Add a server in the sidebar
Click + Add server, fill in host, port, user, and choose Password or Public key. If your key is in ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, HiTerminal will offer it. The password (or key passphrase) is encrypted with the OS Keychain — it never lands in any JSON file in cleartext.
Verify the host fingerprint (first time only)
On the first connection, HiTerminal shows the SHA256 fingerprint and waits for you to confirm. After confirmation, the key is pinned. If the host key ever changes, a red warning dialog blocks the connection until you explicitly trust the new key — exactly like ~/.ssh/known_hosts, but visible.
Open a session — get a window
Right-click the server → New session. Each session opens in its own OS window. Use the sidebar buttons ⊞ tile / ⊟ cascade / ⇪ stack to arrange them across monitors. ↻ restarts a dead session.
Mark sessions for the eyes
Right-click a session → Marker. Pick a color (5 colors) and a shape (circle / square / triangle / diamond). After a long workday with 30 open windows, this is what saves you from typing kubectl delete in the prod tab.
Upload a file: drag-drop, ⌘V, or right-click
Drag a file onto the terminal window — it's uploaded over SFTP to the remote shell's current working directory (tracked live via the OSC 7 escape sequence). Or copy a screenshot in Preview and hit ⌘V, and it lands as clipboard-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.png. Files over 100 MB are chunked automatically.
Add a remote peer (for attach)
Switch the sidebar to the 원격 (Remote) tab → + Add remote host. Enter the SSH details of another machine running HiTerminal. The sidebar will read ~/.hiterminal/state.json from that host and show its servers and sessions as a tree.
Attach to a remote session
Double-click a remote session in the tree. The host machine pops up an attach-confirm dialog with four choices — Always allow / 10 minutes / This once / Deny. After approval, the last 4 MB of scrollback streams in, then live output continues. Type as if you were on the host.
Pricing
Free forever for casual use.
Pro for everything else.
No subscription required to try. The 14-day Pro trial starts on first launch — no payment, no account, no credit card. When it ends, the app keeps working for free with sensible limits, or upgrade to keep everything.
- 1 remote server
- 5 concurrent sessions
- SSH password / public-key login
- Auto-reconnect, host key verification
- Keychain-encrypted credentials
- Visual markers, tile / cascade / stack
- Remote attach
- SFTP file upload / download
- Per-machine peer discovery
14-day Pro trial starts on first launch — no payment, no account.
- Unlimited servers & sessions
- Remote attach — VNC for terminals
- SFTP upload — drag-drop · ⌘V · right-click
- SFTP download — right-click · save selection
- Scrollback recovery on attach (4 MB)
- Peer discovery via
~/.hiterminal/state.json - Attach-confirm with always-allow option
- All current and future Pro features
- Email support · faster bugfix turnaround
International cards & PayPal via LemonSqueezy (taxes handled automatically) ·
Korean cards via NicePay (KRW, lower fees).
License key arrives by email in 1–2 minutes. Paste it into the app: Settings → 🔑 HiTerminal Pro.
Mobile companion — always free
The iOS / Android companion app (planned for late 2026) will be free forever. Its job is to let you attach to your desktop HiTerminal from a phone — with voice input for the AI-CLI workflow — and we don't think a phone is the right place to charge for that. The desktop app is where the real work happens, and that's where Pro lives.
One license = the machines you own
A Pro license activates HiTerminal on every desktop you personally use — laptop, studio, home iMac. We don't enforce per-seat counts because remote-attach is most useful when all of your machines can join the same session. Sharing a license with another person, however, is not allowed.
How HiTerminal compares
Why not just tmux + iTerm?
tmux is great. SSH is great. iTerm2 is great. HiTerminal is what happens when you want all three to work together by default, with a GUI sidebar, file transfer, and cross-machine attach — without scripting any of it.
| Capability | tmux + iTerm | HiTerminal |
|---|---|---|
| Session survives client disconnect | Yes (tmux) | Yes (native) |
| Attach from another machine | Manual: ssh → tmux attach | One double-click |
| Live scrollback replay on attach | No (tmux history limit) | 4 MB streamed |
| Drag-drop file upload to remote cwd | No | SFTP, automatic |
| ⌘V clipboard image upload | No | Yes |
| Visual sidebar (server → session tree) | No | Finder-style |
| Per-session color & shape markers | No | 5 × 4 = 20 combos |
| Host-key change warning dialog | CLI text only | Blocking dialog |
| Credential storage | Plain ssh config / agent | OS Keychain |
| Cross-platform (macOS / Win / Linux) | Partial (tmux is *nix) | All three |
Roadmap
Where we're going
HiTerminal isn't just an SSH client — it's becoming "your workspace, on whichever machine you're sitting at." v1.2 is the starting point. v2.0 is the destination.
SSH multi-session · remote attach · SFTP
Everything you've seen so far. Finder-style sidebar, per-session windows, visual markers, drag-drop upload, machine-to-machine attach, Keychain credentials.
Mobile companion · stronger desktop
iOS / Android companion + voice input for prompting AI CLI from your phone. Built-in SFTP file browser, split panes, jump-host chains, SOCKS proxy.
Connect from anywhere — no firewall, no port forwarding
Zero ports opened. Zero firewall rules. Zero router changes. Pair once with your SSH key — and from then on, your servers are reachable the same way from café WiFi, hotel networks, or behind a corporate firewall. No port is ever exposed to the internet.
FAQ
Honest answers
Do I need to install anything on the remote server?
No daemon, no agent. A normal SSH server (sshd) is enough. Remote attach does require HiTerminal to be running on the remote machine — because that's where the sessions live. So: macOS / Windows / Linux desktops on both ends, plain sshd servers as terminal targets.
What does "VNC for terminals" actually mean?
VNC mirrors a screen across the network so two people see and control the same desktop. HiTerminal's remote attach mirrors a terminal session the same way — your iMac can attach to a Claude Code session running on your Mac Studio, see its scrollback, watch live output, and type into it. Multiple clients can attach to the same session, and detaching doesn't kill it.
Is my password sent anywhere?
It is encrypted by the OS Keychain (via Electron's safeStorage API) and stored on disk only as ciphertext. It is decrypted in-process and handed to the ssh2 library at connection time — exactly like every other SSH client. There is no HiTerminal cloud, no telemetry endpoint, and no analytics SDK.
What if the host key changes?
You'll see a red blocking dialog with the old and new SHA256 fingerprints. The connection will not proceed until you explicitly approve the change. This is the same logic as ~/.ssh/known_hosts warnings — just visible and unmistakable.
Can I use my existing SSH keys?
Yes. HiTerminal reads from ~/.ssh/ by default (id_ed25519, id_rsa, etc.) and supports passphrase-protected keys. The passphrase, if needed, is stored via the same Keychain mechanism as passwords.
Will it eat my CPU running 30 windows?
Each session window uses the WebGL renderer (xterm.js + WebGL addon), which offloads cell rendering to the GPU. A typical workload of 10–15 active sessions sits well under a single CPU core on Apple Silicon and modern Intel. The bigger constraint is your remote machine's SSH server, not HiTerminal.
Why is the trial 14 days, not 30?
Because we want you to decide quickly. If HiTerminal hasn't replaced your daily terminal in two weeks, it probably won't in four. Free tier (1 host, 5 sessions) covers casual use forever, so you're not locked out — you just lose the multi-machine and file-transfer parts.
Why pay for the desktop when the mobile app is free?
Mobile is a companion — its only job is to attach to a desktop HiTerminal that's doing the real work. We can't justify a price tag for "the remote control". The desktop is where sessions live, where files move, where the Pro features matter. That's where we charge.
How do refunds work?
14-day refund, no questions, for the first purchase of any plan. Lifetime purchases are refundable for 30 days. Email ilikeafrica@gmail.com with the order ID from Lemon Squeezy.
Is the source code open?
Parts of HiTerminal use open-source components (Electron, xterm.js, ssh2, React) under their original licenses. The HiTerminal application code itself is proprietary today — we may release components as open source later, but the desktop binary is the commercial product.
What's coming next?
Short term: SOCKS proxy through SSH, jump-host chains, a built-in SFTP file browser, optional split-pane layout. Medium term: mobile companion (iOS / Android) with voice input for AI-CLI prompts. Long term: read-only "shoulder-surfing" attach for pair programming.
Contact
Questions, bug reports, licensing
HiTerminal is built and operated by MissMrCrazy — a one-person shop running 9 live domains and 35+ containers. Email goes straight to the developer; replies usually arrive within a working day.